Thursday, July 10, 2014

J/109 ELECTRA, J/120 CC RIDER, J/24 3 BIG DOGS Class Winners
(Long Beach, CA)- The 35th version of the West's largest keelboat
regatta, Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week, was staged by neighboring
Long Beach YC and Alamitos Bay YC, and despite the absence of the
familiar white-capped race courses and breeze below the usual level the
competition was quite lively. With many one-design classes and a number
of offshore classes, the event provided a mix of sailing that is unique
in the SoCal region. While one-designs were be doing the standard
windward-leewards, the offshore boats had a choice of “random-leg”
courses or basic buoy-racing.

For
the J/70s, it was their debut in LBRW and it was also their West Coast
Championships, a World’s qualifier for the top four boats. In the end,
it was long-time class veteran David Ullman (and also regatta sponsor)
who ran off with the top spot with five 1sts a 2nd and 3rd. Said Dave,
“the wind wasn't big but it was good enough to sail. It was quite
shifty, but we were always sailing.” Explaining his secret for doing so
well in the event against other top teams, Dave said, “I’ve been
sailing these boats for a year and a half, more than any of these people
here. It makes a difference. Unlike many world one-design classes, the
70s are easy to sail with your wife and kids and limit hiking.”

Sailing his best J/70 regatta so far was Santa Barbara YC’s Scott
Deardorff, sailing a very consistent series in the top four to take
second place with 26 pts. Sailing with Scott for the series was San
Diego J/24 veteran Chris Snow. Taking third was Newport Harbor YC’s Tom
Garrett on SLOOP JOHN B with 31 pts. Fourth, was John Fuller’s BLISS
and fifth was Bennet Greenwald’s veteran team on PERSEVERANCE.

The
always competitive J/120 class had a half-dozen very strong teams from
both the San Diego and Los Angeles area fleets. As expected, the racing
was amongst the closest of any of the one-design fleets sailing in Long
Beach, just three points separating the top four boats after seven
races! Closing with a final 1st place, Chuck Nichols and crew on CC
RIDER won with just 17 pts, two pts clear of the next three boats (who
were essentially in a three-way tie). By taking 2nd in the final race,
Gary Winton’s SHENANIGANS crew took the tie-breaker over John Laun’s
CAPER, both tied at 19 pts each. Just shy of grabbing a spot on the
podium was John Snook’s JIM, closing with a 1-3 for a total of 20 pts.
Fifth was Peter Bretschger’s ADIOS with 32 pts.

Like
a bolt of lightning, Tom Brott’s very capable Santa Barbara YC crew on
the J/109 ELECTRA took class honors in their half-dozen boat class with
three 1sts, two 2nds and two 3rds for 13 pts total. Second to fifth was
nearly a four-way tie, much like their J/120 colleagues. It was Heinz
Butner’s RAPTOR that took second with 22 pts sailing an equally strong
regatta as ELECTRA, save for the fact they had to absorb an SCP penalty
in the first race. Third to fifth were only two points in arrears!
Winning the tie-breaker for third was Bryce Benjamin’s PERSISTENCE over
John Shulze’s LINSTAR, a 23 pts each. Fifth was Chris Mewes’s SHADOWFAX
with 25 pts.

With
the proverbial “bull in a china shop” amongst them, the J/24s probably
knew they were in for a fight for the top of the podium with a past J/24
North American and Pacific Coast Champion sailing in the fleet.
Indeed, it was a nearly a “runaway” for Pat Toole and friends from Santa
Barbara YC sailing on their beloved 3 BIG DOGS- winning quite easily
with three straight bullets in the first three races to walk away with
the title. The next four places in the top five were decided by just 5
pts! Second was Mike Johnson’s PEARL with 20 pts, followed by Tom
Tunberg’s Santa Barbara YC team on BULLET with 21 pts, then fourth was
Dave Klatt’s Ventura YC team on JADED with 23 pts and in fifth was past
regatta winner Susan Taylor from California YC on her renowned TAKE FIVE
with 25 pts.

In the world of PHRF handicap racing, there were J’s sailing both random
leg as well as close-course windward-leewards. In PHRF-SB2 (sports
boat class) the J/80 AVET sailed by Curt Johnson from California YC won
with an amazing 1-1-1-2-1-2-1 scoreline for 9 pts total, handily beating
the Olson 30s, Open 5.7s and others in their class. Mark Hunter’s J/80
IN-APPROPRIATE took 4th.

In
PHRF-A, the two J/111s and the two J/124s had spirited competition
amongst them over the three days of light air southerlies of 6-10 kts.
Taking the bronze by winning the final race was Tim Harmon’s J/124
CIRRUS from Alamitos Bay YC; they took the tie-breaker over Glenn
Griley’s J/111 STAMPEDE from Kings Harbor YC also on 30 pts. In sixth
was Bill Webster & Mike Moorhead’s J/111 JATO from Kings Harbor YC
at 39 pts.